Author: Lisa Bosman, Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University

Diversifying the science, technology, engineering and math fields has long been a top priority of many universities and tech companies. It’s also a goal of the National Science Foundation, the biggest funder of university-led research and development in the U.S. But in the field of engineering, at least, there hasn’t been a lot of progress in diversifying the academic pipeline beyond white men. The share of engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded to Black students has barely budged over the past decade. Women and Hispanic students fared better, but their respective percentages are still well below their shares of the population as…